Thursday, 31 January 2013

Social Media Promotion

Social Media Promotion

In today's world of modern technology, online marketing has evolved as a boon to many organizations. It forms the powerhouse for all the promotional activities of the organizations. Though the routine methods like Newsletters, Brochures, Bulletin, Leaflets, Fliers, etc., are still in existence, a lion's share of revenue is driven from online marketing. Earlier, promotions were carried out by going to door steps and explaining about the products and services. But today, organizations are cutting down all the non-essential expenditure by making a good use of online marketing.

Online Marketing is a phenomenon, where you can transmit all the information about your organization, school, hotel, hospital, etc., through social media. The information by this way spreads like a wild fire attracting the eye balls of millions of customers. There are various social media platforms which give you a privilege to carry out your promotional activities if you don't fail to follow their terms and conditions.

Some Important Concerns For Social Media Promotion:

Choice:

Choice matters a lot in social media promotions. If your content can create most acceptable version, you are lucky enough to get popular.

For instance, if you consider Facebook, which is a wide craze among millions of people can be used as a platform to care out the awareness of your products and services. You can create a business page in it and start garnering the visitors who might ultimately become your customers. It form the cheap source of publicity as a person who likes your services will go ahead and share it with others. This forms a big and formidable chain, which when handled with care might yield best results.


Scope:

There is a high level of scope in social media promotions. The scope of getting popularity is to be creative. If creativity envelops in your content, you are the winner.

Directories form the best choice to promote your services as a large section of people check them for a possible solution to their queries. You can post your promotion in the respective categories provided by them for free of cost.

The ratio of promotional content should be moderate; otherwise that content would become more repetitive.

Once you post in each one of the said resources, you can do a Google Analytics on your website to check which of the tools are actually providing you more traffic. This way, you can channelize your resources and promote the services through online marketing.

Usefulness:

Promotional content in social media should carry quality too as it is the most important part of focusing. People like to read quality content and that should be creative while addressing regular need.

Classifieds, Article Writing, Free press releases are also preferred to a major extent as they are available for free of cost.



I'm a passionate article writer and very fond of playing online bingo games. In my further articles, I want to explore the ways to have fun while playing online games.

Benefits Social Media Marketing

The realms of the internet are always changing. New websites and features are always being added and social behavior affects what is being used. This makes it difficult for businesses to effectively market themselves in today's world. They are always having to find new ways to stay ahead of the game, but that is nearly impossible due to the fact that the internet changes rapidly. One of the best ways for you to connect with your clients is through the use of social media marketing. It is a great business strategy that helps you in numerous ways. There are four main reasons that social media is the way to advertise your business.

1. You Can Establish Your Brand: Millions of people come to social media sites and they use them regularly. They see the ads and the pages on these sites constantly, so setting up a brand on a social media page is a great option. Brand advertising has shown itself to be an excellent way to advertise and it is one of the most successful options available to you. You an easily set up your brand logo on your social media site and you can advertise it to millions of users.

2. Connect With Your Clients: You can easily connect with your clients or potential clients through social media marketing. This allows you to give a face to your company, rather than just seeming like a heartless business. You can converse with specific people one-on-one and it will give them the feeling that they are a valued customer. Potential clients also see your business as more legitimate when you run a social media page. Your customers will trust you more if they see your business has a real human voice. They want to know that they are not giving their money to a ruthless CEO at the head of a company.

3. Traffic: When you use your social media page, you can post links and deals to your website. You are easily able to give these offers to a concentrated group of people. If you use social media marketing correctly, this means you can send out your website to hundreds of people with the click of the button and you do not have to worry about page rankings or SEO details. This is an opportunity that every business should take advantage of.

4. Feedback: Because social media marketing allows everyone to easily post their opinions online, you are sure to get thousands of comments about your service or product. Whether they be positive or negative, they can help. If you receive a large amount of negative reviews, you know what you must change and you can use these comments to improve yourself. If you happen to be receiving a lot of positive reviews, you know that you are providing a great service toy your clients. By taking these opinions into account, you are sure to increase the quality of your service/product and it will show your customers that you care about their needs and wants.

Social Media Is All About Community

If you could listen in to a conversation among retail advertisers, on-line affiliate and email mail marketers who have been in the business for over 10-15 years or so, you'll most likely hear complaints about the increasing difficulty of maintaining a readership among their email audience. The conversations would emphasize, correctly, the need for great content, great customer service, email etiquette and the like but there would be a huge void when the conversation got to using social media for advertising. Sure, the subject would be discussed, and in some detail, but the actual specifics and particulars would be light.

Why? Because we don't know how to advertise on the social media platforms.


Over 85% of the largest US companies are not using social media to any large extent, instead, they are relying on email marketing. Don't get me wrong here, email marketing is a valid and reliable marketing tool, I have written many articles and a couple of E-Books about it but it is pretty clear to me that there is an ever growing population of potential customers who don't use email.

It has taken me a while to understand the compelling draw of millions to Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and the hundreds other social media sites. I honestly could not "get" why someone would want to read about their friend's trip to the grocery store or the fact that their 3 year old was stomping on their last nerve. But now I get it.

It's all about community. Unlike the isolating technologies of the twentieth century, social media have exploited the natural tendencies of humans to band together. Where the emergence of television, closely followed by computers tended to cut off one person from another, the emergence of social media utilities evoke relationships and speak to the need we all have- to belong. Less interested in "all about me" the younger generations seem more interested in "us".

In 2008, the most popular Facebook application was the new one called Causes, a very simple application which lets the users start and join the causes you care about and grew very quickly to over 20 million active monthly users.

That young mother knows that in her circle of close Facebook friends, there are at least one or 2 other young Mom's feeling exactly the same way. And why is all of this relevant to us marketers? Simple.

Eric Qualman, author of Socialnomics, defines socialnomics as word of mouth on steroids- is word of mouth marketing something you aspire to? You bet you do.

Sunday, 27 January 2013

Intermediate Ways to Social Media

Intermediate Ways to Social Media


Using social bookmarking to create a linked network of sites is a recently growing internet trend. Interlacing websites using online communities and such websites through social media optimization (SMO) is fast gaining currency with many webmasters who are looking to find like minded people sharing similar interests that don't always appear high on search engines.


These provide an excellent tool for generating more traffic to your site. All you need to do for SMO is to create a list of the social media sites that are very popular and provide free services. You can use multiple accounts with multiple sites for greater benefits.

Then what is important is having the appropriate keywords in your chosen category that people are going use as link baits in tags. This is what is behind the success of SMO as what you are doing is using SMO for creating good content relevant to the topics and you can do so without the use of may automated software that is used for requesting links for link emails and such. All you need to do constantly is update your content frequently and include the correct keywords.


What is also equally important is getting you a username or handle that is unique in highly density social media, email or forum sites. This is because there are many who can pose like you to trick people and transfer the blame and also to protect yourself against any action thereof. Finding user names that have a high relevance with the associated topic is also a way to get you noticed.

It is very much possible to generate traffic through SMO there are countless websites and blogs benefiting from this while SEO efforts have not been up to the mark.

Author: Sean Mize. Sean teaches a unique perspective on growing your online information business using 4 key principles: 1) purpose and mindset 2) expert positioning 3) target market activation and penetration and 4) maximizing sales per buyer.



Sean's training is specifically geared towards advanced marketers who are already making money online and want to increase their market share through innovative and cutting edge methods.

Friday, 25 January 2013

Sorting Your Social Media Strategy


Sorting Your Social Media Strategy

Social Media Marketing can play a big part in generating leads and awareness of your small business. Like most things in life, you get better results when you plan, or create a strategy as it enables you to ensure you are reaching your ideal prospects. So how do you create a strategy for your small business social media marketing?


Start with the WHO.

Who are your ideal clients?
It's essential to know who your audience are. When you who who they are, you'll know where to find them or at least be able to research where they hang out. Which leads us nicely in to the...

Where are your ideal clients?
Are they tech-friendly? Are they on Facebook and Twitter? Does she hangout in forums? Is she an avid offline networker? Reasearching your ideal client and where to find her means you'll be in the right place to have conversations and share useful information with her.

What keeps her awake at night?
You've found your ideal client and you know where she hangs out, you now need to work out what to share with her, what will catch her attention and enable you to start talking to her in a natural, unforced way.
Working out the "what" helps you provide awesome material for your fans and followers. It means your strategy stays on track and starts to attract the right people to you.

Why should she care about your business
The Why is your marketing message. It's why someone should follow you, it's the why someone should get to know and become interested in your business. It's the Why that generates profitable social media conversations. Why is a mixture of personality, the ability to listen and a dash of being in the right place at the right time. That of course leads us to

When...
A lot of small businesses ignore the "when" part of their social media strategy. Imagine you are selling headache pills, not any ordinary headache pills but ones that head off migraine. When is the perfect time to talk to the ideal customer about your product? If you answered when she's about to have a migraine, you have got the when down to a pat. But social media can reach you too late, you can miss the engagement that leads to others recommending you and by then your prospect is in bed with someone else's headache pills!



So you listen for the conversations that are the triggers. You share useful information that will help you be found for headaches and migraine and you know when the perfect timing is to say "take a look at this product" and when to say "read this article". The when helps you build advocates and come across as a professional. No matter how well-intentioned you are you don't want to look like a social spammer!

The How is now putting together all of your answers to form your social media strategy and once you have it all you have to do is act upon it.

Sarah Arrow is the co-author of Social Media Marketing guide; Zero to Social Media FILM Star. The book contains advice on setting up your social media profiles and contains strategy templates to help you get started marketing your business.

Tuesday, 22 January 2013

Social Media Channels

Social Media Channels

Social Media Channels and Their Relevance on the Enterprise

Social media marketing has been the buzzword in the enterprises owing to its omnipresence. Nearly every facet of life is now engulfed by social media sites while consumers have taken to the medium for nearly everything, asking for options and opinions, sharing of ideas and information, job search, and even for sorting out trivial tasks and problems. Enterprises and analysts believe that leveraging the medium will help companies to know more about their consumers closely and then devise strategies making use of that information.


The best channels for social media marketing for enterprises

>> Facebook, which was launched by Mark Zuckerberg, has millions of users and the number is increasing rapidly. It is one of the best social network platforms for companies to promote their brands and even publicize relevant events. You can get a company page and list out the activities and projects that your organization has been undertaking. One can update profiles, exchange messages with interested people, socialize with similar interest groups, and even organize different events like webinars by getting people to join it.

>> Twitter, which was founded by Jack Dorsey, is a micro blogging service which gets the world to know your opinion in less than 140 characters. The site has more than 200 million users and can be linked with Facebook accounts for automatic updates. It is perfect for all types of people to stay in touch with celebrities, get others to follow your company and even promote new launches with posts. Sharing of information is fastest through this micro blogging site.



>> LinkedIn was launched in 2003 and is known to be a perfect professional networking medium, which deals in business related social networking boasting of more than 100 million users. Companies can get their profile page up and ready with relevant information about the history of the company, product and service information and link with employees who are working presently. One can get the company promoted through co workers and ex employees who can discover new connections. Job seekers find the site pretty much useful because relevant groups post job related information which is conveyed easily through feeds. HR professionals can also judge the career history of a particular job seeker and pitch in their offer keeping the info in mind. LinkedIn is rapidly growing at a consistent rate and can be integrated with both Twitter and Facebook for instant updates.

But is social media really relevant to your enterprise? Yes and no. This is because every company engages with a social network channel due to different reasons. One needs to get the purpose clear before even engaging in social network.

With any social media application, one needs to assess the benefits before venturing for a social media experience? Enterprises are keen to get on the social network marketing bandwagon because everybody else is doing the same. But as an organization, one needs to have a definite motive for accessing the social media channel. One needs to devise strategies which are ingenious and catchy especially while promoting the latest product or service, so that they resonate well with the right set of prospective customers.

Smart Social Media Tips for Retailers

It is no joke to establish a business. You definitely want to draw consumers to your store and please them with your goods. So why not utilize modern technology to finding these people. This is when social media training comes handy for your business. This will make you understand how your store should utilize it and gain more customers.

As a retailer, you may need social media to promote what you want to offer. Certainly social media experts can show the right way to do it. They can explain how your online business can draw traffic. Or you may want more consumers to drop by your traditional store.

To understand how social media work especially for retailers, below are few tips to guide you with your marketing strategy. This may help you win customers and keep your business going.

1) Popularize your retail store by showing actual pictures and videos

This is why photos and videos are useful. You can utilize Facebook to post your physical store and the products you sell and tweet comments in Twitter. You can create a fanpage for followers to like it. This way they know you exist; perhaps they may visit your store and try your products.

2) Know your audience and connect with them

As you have advertised your business, you will know who are your audience and how you can keep them for good. You may want them to like your fanpage or comment your tweet. If possible, you may want superstars to disseminate information as they have many followers. Who knows, this can create a major impact for the business.

3) Use gadgets to reach consumers

A portable computer is for home or office use. As you travel, bring along smaller gadgets to connect you to your audience. Technology has provided mobile phones and tablets to stay in touch with consumers. Remember social media allows you to interact with them. This way, you know where your business stands as your fans continue to communicate with you.



4) Utilize email and mobile marketing

More people will know about your business. They will want to leave personal information for you to contact. You can send them email or mobile marketing and offer various promotions. Many times, consumers can drop by and patronize what you got. They will also love to receive freebies, special offers and discounts.

Nothing is better than using social media as your means of reaching people. You can learn new techniques if you seek help from a social media training company.

Sunday, 20 January 2013

Media Explosion

Media Explosion

Social media sites have exploded onto the scene in the last couple of years and they’re already having a profound impact on the way many people communicate with friends, family and brands online.

With the success of sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, it’s no surprise that the overall social media landscape has gained traction as a viable communication option for businesses and especially content creators like article writers.



Social media offers a relatively new option for article writers, like yourself, to connect with a tech-savvy audience to share your articles and your expertise. Plus, that audience can be invaluable as each member has the power to share your articles with their own followers. Then, those followers can share with their even larger network of followers and so on.

The viral nature of social media makes it a perfect tool for article writers. The question is no longer “Should I be using social media to generate interest in my expertise?”, but “How do I get started and where do I go from here?”

To help answer those questions, we put together this list of 6 social media best practices for article writers. These guidelines will help you on your way to giving your article writing a whole new dimension.




(1) Come Up With a Social Media Plan – Social media marketing takes time and effort. When you choose to add it to your promotional mix, give yourself a set amount of time each day to research and explore. That set amount of time will help keep you focused until you figure out the best strategies for building your brand as an expert. Then, scale back and focus on those best outlets and strategies.
Listen In and Observe – Social media sites are great places to work on your online voice, learn how to effectively communicate with others and follow your competition. Believe it or not, they’re also great places to find article inspiration. Spend time listening to how other people communicate.
Engage Others and Let Your Voice Be Heard – Join conversations on social media sites and share the same level of great content you do in your articles. If people have questions and your existing articles answer those questions, refer them to your articles. If you don’t have an existing article answering their questions, consider writing one and sharing it.
Avoid the Temptation of Responding to Every Negative Comment – Replying to every negative comment can be detrimental to you in 3 ways. It will (1) drain your energy, (2) waste your time and (3) make you seem defensive to your readers at times. If your original message was loaded with great content, it’s likely your readers will come to your defense, which is far more powerful. Taking the higher ground will position you as an expert.
Keep the Proportion of “Salesy” Messages Low – Treat social media sites as you would a table full of friends. Listen and contribute only when you have something valuable to say. Build the relationship first and then ease into your sales message. That is (and always will be) the best way to acquire long-term customers no matter what form of marketing you’re using.


Choose Followers Wisely – As your number of followers grows, you’ll get a sense of how much of an impact you have. If you aren’t selective on who you’re following, it can cost you a lot of valuable time, so make sure to follow people that have some sort of connection to you and your business. Quality trumps quantity. Following quality people (not spammers or fakes) is always the best strategy when it comes to using social media for your business.
Incorporate these social media best practices into your article writing plan today for increased exposure and traffic back to your website or blog. Leave a comment to share your own experiences with social media and what it has done for you.


Saturday, 19 January 2013

Public Media

Public Media: Predicting Future Technologies

Technology is largely a function of available categories. Some of these categories are technical, some are a product of social or business conditions, and others are concept-based (intellectual).

It can be seen that in the past usually two or more equivalent categories combine to get a viable technology. Social media and smart phones are a recent exception, involving a greater number of categories. Yet these categories are primarily technical, rather than being based on specific social or concept categories.



It can be argued that the technologies that have developed are broad enough in function that these social and concept categories don't need to be specific. And products may depend on general approaches for marketability. But as markets grow, this may not always be the case. A point is reached where specific categories become viable agents of the economy. This is already the case in a kind of macro-sense about smart phones themselves----they embody a technical response to the environment which was not previously possible.

But there is more potential to integrate with the environment than has usually been assessed. I don't just mean ATMs, recording audio or taking pictures. The second two are somewhat one-way technologies, and ATMs remain bulky. I am not fully convinced that the emergent technologies are just technology-to-technology devices either. There is a strong value in networked devices which remains 'one concept' in the system of related technological ideas. In some ways it has remained a technical angle, and not a social or conceptual one.

I will push the assessment of current technologies aside. These technologies essentially embody categories of future technologies---combinatorial possibilities. I can count the types of categories that might be used on a computer: Games/Graphics, Interpretation/Extrapolation/Preferences, Networking/Social Media, Personal Media, Specialized Applications. I can add to this a number of arbitrary categories that expresses technological capability---there may be many of these, but most of them are unsurprising. They may consist of sub-components---what I will call syntactic interfaces---such as keyboards, mice, lasers, etc. which constitute a linguistic or syntactical limitation on the potential of the technology. Outside of these re-combinations of syntactical relationships, media (the word we tend to use recently for computers) consists essentially of information.




So there are three choices: (1) Combine existing syntactic interfaces into something new and yet appealing---this may seem impossible or untenable, (2) Find a new syntactic interface, or (3) Work with information alone. This may be a simplification, since it is also possible to find syntactic interfaces that only work with new takes on information.

So my caveat is, since these three categories are so limited, why not look into the relationship between technology and environment? Environment could easily change the prospective relationship between information and syntax, or even create new syntactic interfaces. The potential is huge.

What about games that are designed specifically for sub-casual play? These could easily be constructed on transparent wall-panels and windows to appeal to user-generated aesthetic sensibilites. There is a potential to combine these with electrodes also. It is miraculous that these have not already been thought of with greater popular interest. Digital interactivity at Starbucks has the potential to create a genre. This might also hook into highly specific applications, such as personal products and useful advertising, creating yet another genre, of responsible public interfaces.



What can be done with syntax in cafes and public areas? There can be more intermediate interface that lubricates the consumer interest in games and their own media devices. These might be public servers, or social-interface components which cater to the needs of travelers, students, business people, or other types of consumers. The games that are suggested or generated can cater to the specific needs and desires of those cohorts of media. Additionally, some forms of syntax may integrate with specific methods of parsing information, such as by using electrodes to do media or internet searches, opening the possibility of marketing. I see a lot of potential for preference-based organization of media, which has a strong potential to integrate with new emergent forms of parsing and preference-related applications. One potential here is to automatically generate media bottom-up from the specific use of preferences.

In sum, the new potential in media is a function of several things: (1) Preferences, especially using electrodes, (2) Intermediate applications which organize the growing field of personal and public media and its marketability, (3) The aesthetic sensibility of the growing presence of electronics in public areas.

Although only the last of the three is obviously environmental, I see the greatest potential for the combination of these factors involves social media and 'universal location' of media. Consequently, there will be an exponential reflection of aesthetic sensibilities and public presence upon the overall appeal of future digital media.

As I mentioned less formally before, there are a significant number of specific new applications within this new public media sensibility:



(1) Preference-based applications including searching, organizing, and implementing media, (2) Games and movies which cater to preference-based applications, especially universally and with highly sensitive utility, (3) Social media integration components, such as parsing, translation of media, public or private preferences, (4) Intermediate interface which automatically supplies some of the above tools to personal vs. public media integration, (5) Responsible public interfaces, such as at Starbucks, with its own media platform, visuals etc. especially by making use of windows, (6) Sub-casual games played with media surfaces, focusing on low-attention and personality-supplementing components and characteristics.

I think there is a lot of potential with these aspects. I hope the reader will agree, and work to promote these exciting ideas in the media industry.

Friday, 18 January 2013

Social Media

Social Media

Many social media sites started out as personal sites but social media marketing has become one of the most powerful online strategies for businesses, online and offline.

In 2002, Friendster was launched in the U.S and then in 2003 MySpace began.

Next to be launched was Facebook in 2004. Facebook was originally started for students but quickly spread to be much more. Twitter was born two years later in 2006. Pinterest, said to be the fastest growing site ever, was launched in 2010.


All these sites, along with others, have become powerhouses in social media marketing. As each year passes the possibilities continue to grow and expand. There probably are not many businesses left that do not engage in social media marketing.

These social sites are continually growing, expanding and changing and it can sometimes be difficult to keep up with these changes. Below are the top ten tips to help your social media marketing in 2013.

1. Make your posts more relevant - When people first started using the social sites they were posting things like "Going shopping today with the kids. Wish me luck!" The social sites have grown and changed. You need to start posting more relevant information. Make it about your readers and followers, not about you. Post solutions, inspiration, and interesting facts that can be useful and helpful.

2. Utilize features and tools - Social sites are increasing the possibilities for your business with more tools and features than ever before. Take stock of all these tools and learn to use them for the benefit of your followers and your business.

3. Visual Marketing - Marketing is going visual and you need to do the same. Embed text and your business info in relevant graphics to post. Pinterest, using image sharing, has broken records with its growth. Pictures are also the mostly widely used and shared method of posting on Facebook. When people share your images you want them to see your website link or other relevant info.

4. Help Your Clients/Readers - No matter what business you are in, you cannot provide solutions to all your clients' needs. Be willing to post links, information and resources of other businesses that can help your clients where you cannot.

5. Use Your Analytics - Review your analytics regularly to see what is working and what isn't. Are people visiting one social site more than others? When are people visiting your pages? Find out everything you can from your results. You can learn a lot from your analytics but you must utilize them to reap the benefits.

6. Host Events - Hold regular events such as giveaways, seminars, chats, networking parties, promotions, etc. Facebook has recently updated their event feature so it is easier and more efficient.

7. Connections Not Sales - Use your social media pages to connect with your potential customers not for sales. You want to use social media to share information, respond to questions and comments and to showcase what your business is about. You don't want to continually bombard your social sites with sales pitches and ads. Help your followers find solutions, do not pitch to them.

8. Slideshare - Slideshare is predicted to be the fastest growing social site in 2013. Slideshare will allow you to share your presentations with millions. You can also share documents, PDFs and videos. The possibilities are endless with this Slideshare.



9. Google+ - Google+ will be more important to your business. By being on Google+, you will be able to take full advantage of Google's many services and tools. It hasn't the social power of some of the other sites but it is a central part of Google and you should be a part of it.

10. Use Fewer Social Sites - Concentrating your marketing efforts to a few of the better producing sites is more effective than spreading yourself too thin over many of the social sites. The time it takes to successfully participate in social media is substantial so you need to build a strong presence on the sites that deliver rather than trying to dominate them all.

Social media marketing is expected to reach new and unequaled heights in 2013. Don't let your business be left behind. Become active with social media. Really get involved. Make new connections and post relevant visual items. Make it about your followers and clients, not about what cereal you had for breakfast!

Building A Strong Presence On Social Media


Are your customers likely to use social networks? If so, it will be to your advantage to use this platform to promote your products or services. The five tips discussed in this article will help you make the most of social media marketing.



Tip #1: Join social networks your customers use.

Facebook and Twitter are the two most popular networks, but that doesn't mean they are your followers' favorite networks. If your audience is diverse, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are safe choices, but your best bet is to survey your audience to find out which networks they use the most. They may prefer a network popular among their subculture or age group. Also, they might use more than one network regularly.

Tip #2: Adapt your social media marketing campaign to your audience.

Your customers may log into social networks several times a day or check in only a few times a week. Synchronize your postings to their schedule. If the former is true, post new information several times a day. On the other hand, if the latter is true, its best to limit your postings to a couple updates a week. Get feedback from your subscribers to make sure you are in sync.

Tip #3: Focus on providing quality content.

Share links to your articles or videos, post pictures of your products and provide useful and interesting resources that interest your subscribers. Use different formats to share your content keeping in mind pictures and videos are easiest to notice. Never share content from your competitors' sites. Note which topics or formats get the most attention and share more similar content.

Tip #4: Encourage customers to connect with you.

Of course you want to promote your social media marketing campaign as much as possible. Do that by adding your social media logo on your business card and in the signature of your emails. Add links to your profiles on your site or blog and make sure you mention social networks as a way of contacting you for questions or comments. Also, present your campaign as a way to get discounts and exclusive information about your products.

Tip #5: Interact with your subscribers on social networks.

Interacting with your followers is one of the surest ways to guarantee success. Get your subscribers to interact with you as much as possible. Share content people will want to share with their friends. Post polls, debate questions or entertaining content to get a reaction. Make sure everything you share conveys a positive image of your brand and never share content that could be shocking. Most important, take the time to thank subscribers who comment or share your content.



Using these tips will help you develop a strong social media presence. But to really make them work for you requires you track your results, make adjustments where necessary and stay connected with your followers. You can boost your sales significantly using a relevant and strategic social media marketing campaign.






Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Growth of DTH Services


Growth of DTH Services


The growth of "Direct To Home(DTH)" service across the world in past one decade has been phenomenal as it has revolutionized the way television being viewed. The subscribers can watch their favorite shows in high-definition image quality with very good sound effects like CD.



"DTH" has allowed people to add a personal touch to their TV experience. An audience can choose and select their favourite list of channels he or she wants on their screens. Only, they have to pay only for the channels of their choice. As a result, they are able to rationalize and optimize their preferences on the invoices. For users ease, majority of the "DTH" operators have already established program packages for the various segments, which led to the growth of "DTH" service.

"DTH" services also includes a feature called interactive television. It has revolutionized the way TV was viewed as one can play games, watch videos and can listen to music CDs, etc.



No you must be wandering what you have to do to avail "DTH" service. In order to avail the service, you need to visit one of the "DTH" service provider and apply for membership. They usually offer different tariff plan for different needs. You can choose the plan that fits your needs or you can also make a special request. Service providers also offer the possibility of on-line renewal. There are also option to switch from one plan to another plan. These plans are usually on an annual basis.

The "DTH" platform also allows subscriber to restrict viewing of some channels not by children. You can enter a password and lock channels. Consequently, the subscriber doesn't need have to worry about what to look for children behind their backs. In addition, the subscriber can also choose and pay for a movie slot without missing it.



It is worth mentioning that the intense competition in the field of satellite TV Industry, has forced many "DTH" operators to introduce many promotional offer in order to have larger share of the market. The introduced offers are usually attractive in terms of costs and benefits, and can be purchased online. Free subscription to the popular channels for a certain period can often be found in a promotional offer.

One more reason behind the growth of "DTH" service is that it has eliminated the role of cable operators who previously worked as a mediator and took satellite TV in different houses. People have dealt with fatigue behind them to problems such as unclear and scored an abrupt interruption of the program because of power outages. Some of them even had the audacity to clip videos to shorten the duration of the video.



All these acts of cable television has faded considerably with the advent of Direct Broadcast through "DTH" platform.

Thursday, 10 January 2013

How Technology Is Changing the Face of Education

How Technology Is Changing the Face of Education

Technology is a facet of society that is constantly changing and when these changes take place the members of a particular culture have to be willing to make adjustments. This particular fact is especially true for people who are employed within the field of education. Technology has infiltrated the educational system rather quickly and its usage is expected to significantly increase in the coming years. Teachers can (and still do) instruct students without the use of computers, laptops and tablets but sooner or later they will have to make some adjustments for the use of digital equipment as part of the learning environment.

The Department of Education and the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE) have developed technology standards that have been adopted by the majority of states within the U.S. These standards encourage the use of computers, smart boards, laptops and tablets within the classroom. Laptops and computers have already been implemented in school buildings across the country. Tablets are the latest form of computing technology that is now being adapted for the learning environment.


Many teachers currently use smart boards to instruct their pupils especially on the lower grades. Smart boards provide teaches with the ability to use computer software and media presentations in order to instruct their students.

Most teachers use computers as a supplementary form of teaching. They allow students to go off in groups on their own and learn educational concepts from approved software or websites.

Middle and high schools also use technology to instruct students but they typically take a more direct approach than elementary schools. Some high and middle school districts assign students a laptop that they must use inside of the classroom. These laptops are given to students at the beginning of the year and they must return them back to the district once a school year is completed. Many students in high school and middle school will also be expected to complete assignments online and through the use of networking with fellow students. Though many high and middle schools use the traditional approaches of teaching they are now using digital based instruction at a greater rate.

Education at the college level still involves lectures and note taking but professors and students can perform these tasks with the use of computer technology. Digital technology makes it easier for students to record information and it also helps professors to give media presentation that enhances their lectures and instruction.

The education system is going to be one of the primary areas of society where technology will be greatly utilized. Many of the jobs in the present and the coming future will involve some use of computer technology and people will have to know how to use this science in order to earn a decent living. Schools are exposing children to digital technology for this purpose and to make them more competitive and highly educated in today's world.Technology is extremely important to the learning environment and it has become a  permanent part of the education life.

Importance of Technology in Our Lives Today

To understand and explore the importance of technology in our daily lives, let us first start by defining the term ‘Technology’. Technology refers to the use of tools, gadgets and resources that help us control and adapt to our environment. Originating from the Greek work ‘technologia’, the term also refers to the use of machines and utensils which make our daily lives simpler and more organized. importance of technology. 

  
Modern technology can be considered a direct consequence of the innovations and studies in the fields of science and engineering.  There is no doubt that technology has greatly influenced modern society and lifestyles. While most of these influences have been positive, there are few negative ones. But that is not the topic of this article. Here we shall only focus on the positive impact and significance of technology in the fields of education, business and health care.

Importance of Technology in Education

 Technology plays a significant role in the educational field. Math, reading and writing skills can all be improved using technological advances. Students do not have to bear with mundane learning cycles anymore as more and more teachers are gravitating towards the use of interactive tools and media for making learning interesting. Students can prepare for their future using educational materials that are easily available, thanks to information technology. Teachers are able to deliver content effortlessly to students and can also research complex subjects in the classrooms itself.

It is not just teachers and students who benefit from technology but also educational administrators and parents. The benefits of technology in this field can be summarized as below:

      Technology encourages learning in a positive manner
      It improves students’ skill sets
      It helps prepare the future workforce.

Examples of technological use in the field of education include: use of spreadsheets for math and other topics, videoconferencing for distant learning, creation of web pages to display and share student work, Internet searches for exploring complex topics etc.









For technology to have positive impact in the field of education, teachers must ensure setting clear goals: else technology can be misused. Teachers also need to be trained and this education must be on-going. Technical support also needs to be provided in order to ensure correct handling of tools.

Importance of Technology in Business

Technology has also helped small businesses evolve and expand quickly. The use of social networking, video conferencing, virtual office tools and other such techniques have removed all boundaries, which, in the past, prevented growth. Thanks to technology; businesses, small and large, can reach a wider customer base and grow and expand.

Business technology has helped improve communication. Today, workers are not limited to phone calls alone; they can send emails and messages without the fear of interrupting the recipient. Mobile technology has also helped workers communicate ‘on the go’. Information is not limited to one or two channels, but multiple and faster ones.

In general, the efficiency of the workforce has also increased. Employers are able to screen, recruit and hire potential candidates quickly; they are also able to inform about vacancies to larger number of applicants. Personality and IQ assessment tools have also been made available to employers and these make the screening process a lot smoother and streamlined. Digital filing has helped improve the organization and efficiency in the workplace. Printing costs, paper consumption and space can all be saved thanks to electronic filing systems.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of technology for businesses is the elimination of wastage of time and money. Thanks to videoconferencing and Internet, travel costs can be drastically cut down. A business can set up its presence across the Globe at a fraction of the cost required in the past.

Importance of Technology in Healthcare

The importance of technology in healthcare can be summarized with this single sentence:  “Technology saves lives”. Some of the objectives that healthcare information technology has fulfilled include:

    creation of social support networks for patients
    self management tools and resources that patients can use with ease
    easy access to accurate and actionable health information for patients and families
    quick communication and resolution of health risks and public health emergencies
    provision of newer opportunities to culturally diverse and hard to access nations
    improvement of quality and safety in health care
    improved public health infrastructure
    facilitation of clinical and consumer decision making
    development of health skills and know-how


Health technology has improved organization and efficiency. It has helped eliminate ambiguity and every record right from the billing to diagnostic and treatment can be maintained for easy access for healthcare providers. By using software and hardware tools, profiles of patients can be created so doctors can provide standardized treatment. This helps improve patient outcomes and thus reduces cost of health care.

Wednesday, 9 January 2013

Future Jobs in Media

Future Jobs in Media

In terms of job opportunities, there are three basic functions which media professionals perform to connect ad messages with target markets: media planning, buying, and sales. To prepare for an advertising job, job seekers should develop a good understanding of media planning, media buying, and media sales for both traditional and digital media. (The future is integrated marketing and media.)


1. Media Planning


Media planning is the process of developing an effective media strategy and action plan involving use of both traditional and digital media.

The planning process first begins with an analysis of the marketing situation. Then, second, based on marketing priorities, media objectives are formulated that detail exactly what the media plan is supposed to accomplish, for example, including the definition and prioritization of target audiences the media plan must reach.

Third,strategies are formulated which will most effectively accomplish the media objectives. Finally, based on the media strategies, a detailed tactical plan is developed.

The media strategy and action plan incorporate the right media classes, the right media vehicles, the right geographic markets, the right timing, the right budget, the right number of advertising exposures, in the right media contexts, and so on. In so doing, media planning contemplates how traditional, digital, alternative, and marketing services media can help best address marketing problems or capitalize on marketing opportunities.

The end result of the process is a media plan, often called the tactical plan. The media plan details the recommendations and detailed rationale for all media activities and spending. For example, the plan may propose the use of magazines as the important medium for some particular advertising. The recommendation would include how much money should be spent in magazines vs. other media, in which months or weeks ads should be scheduled, and, of course, which specific magazines are most cost effective and best meet the magazine selection criteria.

Of course, media plans must also include other proposed media/marketing activities such as geographic market areas which should receive supplemental media spending, how often the consumer should be reached with advertising, as well as how the advertising should be scheduled throughout the year or planning period.




A media planner is someone who develops or supervises the development of media plans through a rigorous media planning process. The media planner may occupy any level in the organization; responsibility, not title, defines the job.

Now, imagine that you are a media planner. You have $3 million to market your product to male beer drinkers. An analysis of media alternatives for reaching this audience suggests these three potential strategies.

1. If you bought one:30 spot in the Super Bowl for $3 million, you would reach almost 33% of male beer drinkers all at the same time.

2. If you bought fifteen:30 spots on male-oriented, primetime, network TV programs, you could reach 65% of male beer drinkers more than once with 35% of them reached at least twice.

3. If you spent half your budget for display ads on male-oriented websites and the other half in men's magazines, you would reach 63% of males twice each, on average, but in different media contexts.

Question: Which option would you choose? Why?

2. Media Buying


Media buying is the second type of job available in advertising and the advertising media area. People who buy media are simply called media buyers. Media buyers may be generalists or may specialize in buying specific media: broadcast or print or digital.

After the media plan has been approved by the client, the media included in the plan must be purchased from the media sellers. Buying is the process of identifying the preferred media vehicles, then negotiating with selling media to reach a satisfactory price and other important terms and conditions. The transaction is called a media buy, and the person who negotiated the transaction with the seller is called a media buyer.

Typically included in the list of negotiable items are price, additional time or space units, positioning of the ad or commercial within the media vehicle, inclusion of higher quality and more effective media vehicles, and value added features such as billboards (broadcast), turnkey promotions, merchandising assistance, programs to involve sales force and customers, and so on.

You might be a buyer with a budget and instructions to buy a specific display ad on the home page of a major search engine, for example. You find that the budget is sufficient to buy an ad on the home page of either AOL or Yahoo but not both. You therefore ask each of the sellers to submit a proposal, and you negotiate with both of them until one offers you desirable inventory at an acceptable price. After negotiating with the sellers, you may then select the seller with the lowest price or the best additional enticements. When you have completed the transaction, you have done a media buy!



3. Media Sales


Media sales or selling is the third category of advertising media jobs. All media have sales people who work on the local level selling to local businesses or on the national level selling to national advertisers and advertising agencies. In addition, opportunities exist in media representative firms who often represent media companies in the key markets of the countryt. For example a television station in Hoboken may hire rep firms to do their selling in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit -- or where ever.

What is important here is that media sales will likely be the largest employer of people in the advertising industry, and could be considered by those who have interest in advertising, professional selling and has accrued a little bit of experience in the agency business.

If you were the media seller for AOL in the example above, you might propose a media package consisting of X number of clicks to AOL for the one-time-only price of $5 million. But the Yahoo sales rep would be doing the same thing! Your job would be to come up with an offer better than Yahoo's, including a final price and any other terms and conditions that would induce the media buyer to keep negotiating with you until you can reach a contract.

Sunday, 6 January 2013

Media Entertainments

Media Entertainments




Television

Media Works has owned TV3 and C4 since its inception in 2004. TV3 was founded in 1989 after the Fourth Labour government allowed for a private television broadcaster and Can West obtained TV3 between 1991 and 1997 after the National government loosened rules on foreign ownership. Under CanWest control, TV3 relaunched in March 1998 with a new brand and a 3 News bulletin hosted by John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld. In 2005, Hilary Barry & Mike McRoberts became the stations news anchors. TV3 staff also launched youth station TV4 in 1997 and relaunched it as C4 in 2003 [1] and revert back to Youth TV in 2008.

Both networks operate out of Auckland City. Television advertising is sold by the Media Works offices in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Melbourne, Sydney and Hamilton. There are 3 News bureaus in the TV3 Headquarters in Auckland and Media Works offices in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, with news staff working out of other offices as needed.

Radio


Main article: Media Works Radio

Media Works inherited most of its radio stations from its namesake Radio Works, which was itself the result of a history of amalgamations. That history began when Radio Pacific purchased the Energy Enterprises group of local North Island stations in the 1990s and began to operate as Pacific/Radio works Group. In 1999 Radio Pacific and Radio Otago merged to form the publicly listed company Radio Works; this included the growing networks of The Edge, The Rock and Solid Gold. Between 2000 and 2001 CanWest purchased Radio Works, awaiting company restructuring before completing the year-long takeover, and moved its existing MORE FM group assets, including Channel Z and The Breeze Wellington, into the company.
Since its inception in 2004, Media Works have moved its local stations over to More FM and The Breeze network; all these stations now carry the network branding and some or all of the network's programming. At the same time, Media Works have rolled out new networks Radio Live and Kiwi FM, converted Radio Pacific to Live Sport, and purchased networks Mai FM and George FM. Media Works owns Times FM in Orewa, Coromandel FM on the Coromandel Peninsula and Radio Dunedin in Otago.
All Media Works owned and affiliated stations read or carry Radio Live News updates hourly or half hourly during their weekday breakfast programmers. Most also carry per-recorded news and sports updates hourly at other times. Radio Live News took over from the Radio Works news service, Global News, with the launch of Radio Live in 2005.

Networked stations

While most networked stations carry network programming, each station is local to a certain extent. More FM and The Breeze stations may have their own breakfast, daytime and drive programmers. Most networked stations carry local advertisements, promotions and community notices, sponsor or report from local events, provide local traffic updates and have local news and sports commentary spots.


Interactive

Media Works Interactive consists of the 3 News website, the official websites of the company's television and radio networks, and six specialist websites set up since the department was formed in 2004. The Interactive department designs, maintains and sells advertising on all eighteen websites. Most websites have a similar layout and a Media Works link bar at the top of every page.

The 3 News website is the flagship news website of Media Works, and is continuously updated by the company's journalists. It claims to have provided the first video coverage and breaking news coverage of several events, including being the first website to have posted the verdict of the retrial of David Bain in 2009.[4] It includes sections on national, world, sport, business, entertainment, politics, lifestyle, technology and odd news, as well as weather forecasts, information on 3 News programmers and a news forum. The other websites carry feeds from relevant sections.